March 10, 2008

Record-Journal

Bill proposes deposit for drinking water containers
By: Adam Wittenberg

HARTFORD - In 1978, the state passed a law that placed a five-cent redemption value on all soda and beer containers.

That was long before bottled water became ubiquitous in our society. About 426 million bottles of water are sold annually in the state, or 121 for every resident.

Although most water containers are recyclable, it is estimated that more than two-thirds end up as conventional waste or litter. That compares to a recycle rate of better than 70 percent for beer and soda.

A bill introduced last year would have expanded the five-cent redemption value to all glass and plastic beverage containers including juices, flavored drinks and bottled water. The measure passed the Senate but died in committee before reaching the House floor.

This year, the so-called "bottle bill" is back, but the redemption value would apply only to bottled water, a compromise proponents hope will help it pass.

Redemption for money "has become one of the most effective collection and recycling methods," said Betty McLaughlin, executive director of the Container Recycling Institute, who testified in favor of Senate Bill No. 357, which would expand redemption to water bottles. "It's not rocket science. We know how to do it."

The bill was before the legislature's Environment Committee Monday for a public hearing.

Proponents included the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, who said it would cut down on litter and waste in landfills, but supermarkets, recyclers and other retailers opposed it.

They questioned its cost, cast doubt on its impact on litter and said it could deprive existing recyclers of important revenue.

The 426 million water bottles weigh a total of about 8,300 tons, or less than one quarter of one percent of all waste in the state, said Kevin Dietly, an environmental consultant hired by the Connecticut Food Association.

The bill would cost distributors and retailers about $30 million to implement, or $7,200 per ton, Dietly said, fees they likely would pass on to consumers. That compares to $150 per ton for curbside recycling and $504 per ton for soda and beer.

"You're just not getting very much in the way of return," he said.

Stores would have to expand their redemption areas to accommodate the extra items, and the system would be more complex than soda and beer, which are distributed through exclusive franchise agreements.

Large water companies such as Poland Spring and Nestle have open distribution, making it more difficult to track the bottles as they move into the market.

That would make the manufacturers responsible for collecting their empty containers, something that would be handled through a third-party company, driving up costs.

Fraud is another factor, Dietly said. Maine, California and Hawaii are the only states that redeem water bottles for a cash refund.

In Maine, redemptions are 130 percent of water sold there, Dietly said, as regional distributors are either unable to track water moving between states or intentionally misreport sales to Maine in order to avoid paying the $1.20 per case surcharge to cover the redemption.

Recyclers brought their own objections.

Sean Duffy, president of FCR Recycling which runs plants in Hartford and Stratford, said sales of recycled water bottles help subsidize the cost of recycling paper and glass, which produce a smaller return.

The price consumers and municipalities pay for recycling would likely rise if water bottles become redeemable.
Duffy and others spoke in favor of another bill, No. 5138.

The measure would start a state pilot program to encourage single-stream recycling, a method in which different types of materials are collected together and sorted automatically at recycling facilities. Currently, items such as paper must be separated from plastic and glass prior to collection.

Single-stream has boosted recycling rates and cut collection costs in other places, and the bill appears to have support from environmentalists, grocers and recyclers.
Some single-stream recyclers offer incentives such as retail gift certificates to consumers based on how much they recycle.

Supporters said single-stream would help the state meet its goal of recycling 58 percent of eligible materials, up from about 30 percent now.

The food association and others want the single-stream bill to go forward instead of the bottle bill, but environmental advocates said both measures are needed.

Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford and a member of the committee, disagreed that water bottles are only a small portion of trash in the state.

"Every May we have a cleanup," said Mushinsky, executive director of the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association in Wallingford.

"We find these huge eddies of plastic bottles - we have to take them out with lawn rakes."

Mushinsky, who supports both bills, said recyclers here could program machines at supermarkets to scan bar codes to reject water bottles from out of state, reducing fraud.

Recyclers have raised fears about lost revenue before, she said, but shouldn't sacrifice the potential for 70 percent redemption of water bottles for financial reasons.

"I was a lobbyist years ago for the original bottle bill," Mushinsky said.

"It took about six years to pass it. The beverage lobby is very powerful opposition...they're a hard group to beat because it's a lucrative business."

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